A study in attitudes and opinions of some clients of the Child and Family clinic

Abstract

The importance of client opinion in measuring the effectiveness of social work is discussed in the introduction to this thesis. The particular problems involved in family therapy evaluation are then reviewed, and the conclusion is reached that in this particular field client opinion studies are a most accessible form of measurement, as well as being a source of intrinsically valuable information. In support of this view, there follows the description of a small-scale study of Wellington's Child and Family Clinic, defined for the purpose as a family therapy agency. The opinions of a group of clients about the service they received were sought, through a structured interview. This group consisted of members of twenty-two families. The large majority of respondents were the mothers of children who had previously been referred to the Clinic and had received treatment there, but who were no longer attending. To measure satisfaction with the service at the Clinic, and the relationship between client and worker, a questionnaire was administered and completed during the interview; the information obtained from interview and questionnaire was analysed using both simple descriptive statistics and some cross-tabulations, which were tested for significance. The point is made that significance testing in a study of this size is very likely to produce distortions, and the results are presented only to illustrate certain tendencies in the data. Findings reveal that families were on the whole ill-prepared for the Clinic experience. Many had felt that the participation of the whole family was neither necessary nor easy, as well as being unexpected; this seemed linked to a feeling of dissatisfaction with Clinic service in almost half the cases. Such lack of satisfaction however was not reflected in the outcome of the problems leading to referral, which were said to have lessened in almost all cases. The Clinic's assessment of the problem at case closure was shown to be closely related to families' assessments. Because of the size of the study, it is not possible to generalise beyond the group; but the thesis argues the need for those offering a helping service to be alert to the different ways in which the service may be interpreted by its clients and demonstrates the accessibility of client opinion.